Cowboy Take Me Away
by HarryLurvsMarsBars
Summary: Katniss is getting her life together as a young adult in Dallas and she loves her job, her sister and her friends more than anything. But when she unwittingly meets the new Cowboys quarterback one night, things may get shaken up. Title taken from the Dixie Chicks song "Cowboy Take Me Away"


I try to tune out the constant background noise of the muffled voices of people around me and the intermittent blaring intercom system as I make my way to the cafeteria of Panem Memorial Hospital. My nine hour shift as a radiology technician is finally over and somehow I've managed to get the next day off – a Saturday – and I'm ready to haul ass out of here. As much as I love my job, the days spent almost always on my feet are taxing, along with the occasional difficult patients, which there was no shortage of today. I'm just making this quick pit stop to get myself a juice to tide me over during the inevitable Friday afternoon traffic. I feel myself zone out as I stand in line, just imagining getting to my apartment and relaxing for a while.

"Kat… hellooo? Katniss!"

I spin around, my eyes wide. "Huh? What?"

I instantly know who was trying to get my attention as soon as I turn around. I'd recognize that perfect smile and sparkling green eyes from a mile away. "Oh, hey, Finn. Sorry about that."

Dr. Finnick O'dair laughs and grabs himself an orange juice from the same cooler I did, already unscrewing the lid to take a long, somehow sexy pull of the drink. If I was any less of a woman (or perhaps just somewhat used to his admittedly overwhelming attractiveness) I would have swooned.

"You headed out?" he asks once he swallows, nodding to the keys in the same hand as my V8.

"Yes, finally," I groan. "I have tomorrow off so the day has seemed to drag on longer than usual."

Finnick raises his eyebrows and is about to respond when the conversation is interrupted by Mrs. Sae, the sweet old cafeteria lady, who scans our hospital ID badges and bids us a good afternoon. We sit down at a table and Finnick's ever-present grin quirks into a bigger smile. "I was going to say that makes two of us. I'm not on call tomorrow either. Any big plans for tonight?"

I roll my eyes at him playfully. "You know I don't go out. I'll probably just go to the gym and watch a movie with Prim or something."

He gives me a look and rests his elbows on the table, leaning closer to me. "Come on, Kat, a pretty young thing like yourself should be having the time of her life on a Friday night when she has Saturday off! Come out with me and Jo, just for drinks at least."

I hesitate. Finnick is an ER doctor and since radiology is centered in the ER, we've inevitably come in contact with each other a lot throughout our long days. And while at first I had my doubts about him, I've come to learn over the year we've worked together that Finn is actually a very down to earth, easy going person and a wonderful doctor who just happens to have a very flirtatious personality. He's one of the youngest residents in the hospital, only about five years my senior, and all of this has resulted in a very sound friendship.

Finnick's big green eyes are pleading with my gray ones, a pout across his full lips. I groan and bury the heels of my hands into my eyes, exclaiming, "You're too damn cute for your own good, O'dair, you know that?"

Finn bursts out laughing. "Oh, I know alright. It's just part of my charm."

I lift my head and give him a weak smile. Yes, that charm and those good looks are undeniable, but I've never felt any inclination to date him, or to get involved romantically. He's almost too perfect. At the same time he is a very good friend, and I feel bad for turning him down.

"I'll think about it, ok? Just let me get home and kick my feet up for a while," I relent.

He smiles. "Perfect. I'll text you when I leave, which shouldn't be any later than nine or so. I think Jo said she's off around then, too." Johanna is an ER nurse and our mutual friend. She's absolutely, bat-shit crazy, but there's never a dull moment with her.

We stand and I give him a quick hug and a wave, promising to talk to him later.

When I reach my car, I throw my bag into the passenger seat as I plop myself in the driver's side, heaving a sigh. It's only about 4:30 PM, but factoring in the traffic as I drive from Frisco to Denton it will be after five by the time I reach the apartment I share with my little sister Prim. I decide to just take the night one step at a time and concentrate on getting home before making any executive decisions about the rest of tonight.

It takes a surprisingly short amount of time to get home, and I know Prim is here because I saw her car in the lot as I pulled in. I can practically hear the "Hallelujah" chorus in my ears as I stick the key in the lock and push open the door.

The first thing I see is Prim in the living room. She is the kind of girl that almost every male instinctively finds attractive and every female naturally hates. Her wavy blonde hair tumbles halfway down her back, her big blue eyes sparkle, and she has the body that all women try to achieve: full, perky breasts, a tiny waist, perfectly flared hips and a rounded ass, all of which combined make her sufficiently curvy but not overly so. However, she is so genuinely sweet and polite it's hard not to like her when you interact with her, so different from my naturally stoic demeanor. If there's anything we have in common it's our love of animals and our intelligence. I myself received a full ride to Midwestern, and I cried shamelessly during Prim's valedictorian speech.

Needless to say, she belongs on the Dallas Cowboys cheerleading squad. She only just made it through training camp and earned her official spot on the squad a week ago, and her excitement is infectious. The door isn't even shut behind me when she starts to inform me about her day at rehearsals. Today, as it is more often than not, she does so from the living room floor as she follows an old Denise Austin Pilates video, which I know will be followed by her daily stretches. I sink into the leather armchair and listen as she babbles on about names I don't know and her coaches' feedback to her and the new dances. As long as my day has been, I don't mind; this has been Prim's dream since she was five years old and makes how I spent most of my high school and college years working as often as I could to keep her in dance completely worth it.

"How was school today?" I ask when there is finally a break in her monologue, watching Prim as she bends at the waist and lifts a leg in the air to make her body an almost perfect 180-degree angle. As long as I've been watching her do these things, you would think I would both know what each position was called and be over the awe of seeing her contort her body into these positions. And as much as I want to hear about her day as an NFL cheerleader, I want more to know about how her classes are going at TWU. She knows that school is priority one in my mind.

Prim uprights herself and puts her hands on her hips as she faces me, and if I weren't trying to be the concerned older sister, I'd have to grin at how much that look reminds me of when she was little. The almost-grown woman before me in her bright blue sports bra and tiny pair of spandex is most definitely not that little girl anymore, but she always will be in my eyes. "School is _fine_, Kat. I'm more than a good student, you know."

I sigh and stand from the comfy armchair. "I know you are. I just want to make sure you're okay driving all the way to Arlington and then back here every day. And that you're able to keep up with your homework."

Prim smiles. "I've got this, Katniss. I'm never anything less than on top of everything."

"That you are. Let's just keep it that way, okay?" She nods and reaches for her water on the coffee table. I glance at my watch and do some math in my head, trying to figure out what I might have time for _if_ I decide to meet up with Finn and Jo. "Are you up for the gym? I figured we could stop by Kroger after and get some stuff for dinner."

Prim agrees happily and goes on about some Thai dish she's been wanting to try as we head down the hall to our respective rooms to change. If I didn't live with Prim, I'd probably survive off of Special K and Hamburger Helper; I'm absolutely awful at cooking, but my little sister is a culinary whiz. I could shoot down, skin, gut, and cure just about any meat we needed, but preparing it or anything else I might collect was an entirely different story. After my dad died and my mom's resulting depression essentially shut her mind down, those were the roles that we took – I hunted, she cooked. We don't even think twice about it now, probably for more reasons than the fact that it's simply our routine.

A trip to the gym and grocery store later, it's not even seven o'clock when we return to the apartment and prepare dinner together, and I cringe a little at knowing I'll have virtually no excuse that won't make me look like an ass to my friends. Pushing that thought aside, I start to unpack the few things we got from the shopping bags. As inept as I am, Prim allows me to do small jobs in the kitchen that are virtually impossible to screw up. Tonight apparently I'm pulling the ends and the strings off of snow peas and throwing the peas in a colander to be rinsed. Prim tends to both the grilling chicken and the sauce mixture, stirring ingredients into a large Pyrex bowl and flipping the meat occasionally, ensuring that it's evenly cooked.

I'm lost in my task, and Prim's sweet voice startles me when it cuts through the comfortable silence. "So, Kat…" I look up from my hands only to be met with her big, clear blue eyes, and I can already sense that she's about to ask for something.

I heave a dramatic sigh. "What do you want, Prim?" I question warily. Prim didn't often (or ever, really) ask for anything material, so I can only guess this must be about her boyfriend of two years, Rory.

She juts her lower lip out just slightly, already begging before she's even spoken, and I'm proven right when she finally does. "Can Rory please, please, _please_ spend the night tonight? I haven't seen him in so long, Katniss, and he's coming home for the weekend! We just need a little while alone, and you know we can't get that at his house."

Rory Hawthorne is the younger brother of my best friend Gale, and he and Prim have been dating since they were sixteen despite going to schools about forty-five minutes away from one another. Now they attend schools a good four hours apart, as Rory now hails from Aggie land.

I study her standing there in a baggy t-shirt that at one time probably belonged to the boy in question, Nike shorts, and tongs in hand, looking at me with pleading eyes. Rory is the second oldest, followed by his little brother Vick, and then Posy, the only girl of the Hawthorne brood. The family might be close, but Prim's not wrong in saying that they won't have any privacy with all those people. The only problem is, I'm not sure how _much_ privacy I want them to have.

I know they've had sex. Even if Prim hadn't told me the next morning after their first time together, I would have already known. I've had the severe misfortune of overhearing them late one night after working a double shift, and my ears are scarred to this day. Gale found it hilarious if not a little cringe-worthy when I told him, but that was before he actually walked in on them about a week before Rory left for College Station. The only words we've spoken on the subject of our siblings' sex lives after those instances was our promise to keep each of their nightstands stocked with protection at all times. I'm taking no chances here.

Prim is eighteen, but when she tried to play that card I told her as long as I was paying rent (and by just being the oldest) she had to abide by my rules. I have to say as for as long as I've been a parent to Prim, I can't remember another time when I had actually said something so…_parental_ to her. But I stood by that rule; as much as I love my job, I work long hours with some crazy people (patients and coworkers alike) and the last thing I want is to come home to some teenage girls drinking all my alcohol or to overhear my sister having sex again. She hasn't brought it up since that one time, probably because she knows her argument will fall on deaf ears.

I contemplate it a little longer before convincing myself that they're both responsible enough to be alone for a night. Maybe this will be the push I need to actually engage in social activity for once.

"Fine," I relent, rolling my eyes playfully. Prim squeals and hugs me tightly around the middle. "But be _careful_."

"Oh my _gosh_, Katniss!" Prim squeals, hiding her face in her hands; out of embarrassment or frustration I'm not sure, though I'm guessing the latter by the angry pink spots on her cheeks. "I'm eighteen years old; you already took me to the gyno the day after I told you about us to get me on the pill, remember? I don't need the talk again! It's bad enough that you and Gale play condom fairy to us – yes, Rory noticed too," she adds at my sheepish expression. "And if you must know, they're too small anyways."

She spins around and takes the chicken off the stove, and I'm left there sputtering, peas still in hand. I really didn't need to know that the guy who's practically my little brother has an above average dick. "Then where do the other ones go?"

"Friends," Prim answers, now dicing the chicken. Her back is to me, but I can tell she's done fighting; Prim is never able to stay mad at anyone for long, especially me. "Look, Kat, I get that you don't want anything irreversible to happen, but you have to trust me. I feel like I'm getting my life together already with school and DCC, and even Rory. I know you don't think I could possibly be in love at eighteen, but…I am. I'd never do anything to jeopardize all that." She turns around to face me, and she looks a little sad. "And I want you to feel that too. Just go out for once; let me have my love life, and go find one for yourself. Have _sex_. How long has it been since you've had sex?" she demands, staring at me pointedly with her arms crossed over her chest.

I can't stop the flush covering my cheeks. It's hard for me to even talk about my sex life with my friends, much less my little sister. But she's right; it has been a while. Just the other day Finnick sat next to me in the cafeteria, and his smell alone – clean, fresh and…manly – caused a stirring in the pit of my stomach and had me clenching my thighs together. So looking back on that moment, when just the smell of one of my closest friends made me wet and needy for the rest of the day (until I took care of myself later that night), I realize just how bad I need to get properly laid.

I avoid directly answering Prim's question. "Finnick invited me to come out with him and Jo tonight. Maybe I'll bring Annie. And I give you permission now to help get me together if I'm not getting ready by nine."

"That long, huh?" Prim giggles, hugging me again. "Well, I can kind of relate. I've felt like I'm going to explode ever since Rory's been gone, and it's barely been a month."

"Ugh, Prim, do we have to talk about this anymore?" I ask, thoroughly done with this conversation. I release Prim and finally finish the peas, rinsing them before Prim takes them from me and dumps them in a pan to cook.

"Why don't you just do it with the good doctor?" Prim asks, completely ignoring my request to talk about something else.

I scoff. "Because we work together, Prim. And we're just friends. Neither of us likes each other like that."

Over the sizzling of the pan I can hear her sigh dreamily as she slowly stirs the chicken, veggies and sauce together. "But he's _sooo_ cute. Don't you think he's cute, Kat?"

I roll my eyes and reach into the cabinet for two plates. "Adult relationships go beyond whether or not I think he's _cute_, Prim. I'll let him know you're interested though, hm?"

Prim shrugs and pours the meal onto the two plates. "All I'm saying is that you're beautiful, and from what you've told me about the two of you, you could have him if you really wanted him."

"I think you're just a hopeless romantic, little Duck," I say, using her childhood nickname. Prim is mature for her age, but there are some things that you can only understand with experience, and she just isn't old enough to have had those certain ones yet. I'm content with Finn as a friend and nothing more. "Besides, I think I want to introduce him to Annie. I can see could be good and take there."

Prim smiles at me and we tuck into our dinner, which is delicious. I text Annie, my old college roommate, inviting her out and she agrees.

"Oh yeah," Prim perks up after swallowing her last bite. "Rory said he'd be in tonight by ten. So take your time staying out."

"Oh, I will," I assure, taking both of our plates to the dishwasher. "Now come help me pick out an outfit before I shower."

I'm drying my hair when, true to his word, Finnick texts me at five 'til nine saying he was leaving the hospital with Jo and suggests the one bar I do frequent when I go out, The Hob. Unfortunately I'll be driving back towards work, but the bar is only a couple blocks from Annie's apartment and I can always crash there. I tell Finn I'll be there soon and inform him I'm bringing a friend, then let Annie know which bar we're going to.

Prim tries to put me in one of her ridiculous dresses and I readily decline. I much prefer to look like a badass bitch than frilly and feminine when I go out. I agree to dark wash skinnies, a somewhat flowy black, satin top with delicate spaghetti straps, and an admittedly comfortable pair of patent black stilettos with my hair down. I paint some black liner around my eyes, smudge it up a bit, pile on the mascara, and finish off with some tinted chapstick before deeming myself ready.

I nearly run into Prim on my way out of my room, and she looks me up and down and whistles. "You look hot, big sis!" she says. Her eyes widen a little upon further inspection. "Did you skip on the bra, too? You're getting scandalous."

My face heats up. "You know I hate strapless bras, and there's nothing tackier than bra straps, which would show with this top. I have pasties on, okay?"

Prim laughs. "Relax, Kat, I was just messing with you. You definitely have the boobs to pull off the no bra thing. Though I'm glad you went for the pasties. Better safe than sorry." She winks and slaps my ass. "Now go get 'em, Kitty Kat!"

I glare at her, but end up smiling as I make sure I have my ID, some cash, a credit card, and other girl essentials before spritzing some of my favorite perfume on my neck and wrists, then I'm out the door.

When I get to the bar the parking lot is pretty crowded, but I find a space close to Annie's new little VW. I get out and knock on her window, and she looks up from her phone and smiles.

"Hey you," I say, embracing her once she's out of the car.

"Hey," Annie replies. "How do I look? You know I don't go out enough to really get a good sense if I'm doing this right," she chuckles nervously.

"Oh, and I do?" I joke. Annie is very similar to me in that we are quiet and reserved, and more often than not serious homebodies. I scan her appearance and she's as beautiful as ever, though. Texas in the middle of July is relentless at all times of the day, but our summer has been relatively mild and I'm actually comfortable in the low-90 degree temperature out here with my jeans on. Annie has gone a similar route in lighter wash high-waisted jeans, a loose and light-knit white cropped sweater that goes beautifully with her light, freckled skin, and neutral brown platform sandals. Her brown hair is down but pulled out of her face in two delicate braids pinned to the back of her head. Annie has never given herself enough credit for how beautiful she is, but her natural elegance always blows me away.

"You look amazing, Annie," I tell her honestly. "Finnick will definitely agree," I add, smiling gently and a little playfully. I was nervous to tell her I essentially took the opportunity to set them up, because we both have a mutual hatred for blind dates, but this hardly counts in my opinion.

Her eyes widen a little. "Finnick? You mean your gorgeous doctor friend?" she asks, her voice going up an octave. "Shit, Kat, you know how I am about this stuff!"

I grasp her shoulders. "Annie, relax. I didn't mention anything about you to him. I just want you to meet him, even if nothing happens. Y'all are both some of my best friends." Annie takes a deep breath and nods. She's been single for as long as I have, and from some of the conversations we've had recently I can tell she's ready to get back out there. What kind of friend would I be if I didn't present her with this opportunity? I've never played matchmaker before, but I just have a feeling.

We enter the bar and I search the room full of patrons for Finn's bedhead curls. I finally spot him with Johanna and a stranger in a semi-circle booth. I can't see the stranger's face, but he has both of my friends enraptured in whatever he is animatedly telling them. I grab Annie's hand and lead her over to the booth.

"Hey y'all," I greet, sliding in next to Finn. He looks away from the man sitting on the other side of Jo when I announce our presence and grins. "This is Annie, my roommate from college. Annie this is Finn, and Jo, and…"

At that moment my eyes meet the stranger's and I can't look away. I can't do anything. His eyes are so blue, almost electric, unnaturally blue. But the beautiful color isn't the only thing that has me captured. I can't even pinpoint what it is myself. We both stare at each other for a long moment until the man clears his throat and shakes his head before offering his hand to me.

"Peeta. I'm Peeta."

A/N: I haven't posted anything on here in forever but I couldn't get this out of my brain for months now. I'm absolutely the worst at finishing my multi chapters but I have a good deal of this written out and in my brain, so hopefully I can update every week. Hope you like it so far and please leave a review!


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